Major Agent
A Major Agent is one of the role archtypes that a participant in a plot can have. Once activated by an Organizer, the Major Agent will await information or accessory items to come in from Minor Agents. Once all the required info/items arrive, the Major Agent commits the Primary Crime of the plot. Definition The Major Agent is the person responsible for committing the Primary Crime associated with the current plot - for instance a Kidnapping, Assassination, and so forth. He is the linch-pin for the entire operation, and without him the plot will fail. Appearance in Plots Each plot has exactly one Major Agent participating. The Major Agent begins the plot "deactivated" - for a while, he will do nothing. He may receive a message from an Organizer, explaining his mission, but otherwise he will lay in wait. Gradually, Minor Agents and others will send messages and/or items, either directly or indirectly, to the Major Agent. Once the Major Agent has received all the info and items required, he will commit the Primary Crime - the point of the entire plot. If this is allowed to occur, it is a serious detriment to your score. Following the Major Crime, the Major Agent may or may not go into hiding. Sometimes they will wait until a Payoff is given to them, and other times they may pass an item acquired by the Major Crime to another participant, possibly even the Mastermind himself. Rank and Scoring Major Agents tend to have the Rank of "Special Agent", and are usually worth a large number of points. Note however that if they are allowed to complete their mission, they will carry out the Primary Crime and cost you a large number of points instead. You don't necessarily have to arrest the Major Agent to prevent the crime, as it will usually be prevented if any important link in the plot chain is broken, but arresting or turning the Major Agent will always prevent the crime. Strategy It's unlikely that you will have any information leading to the Major Agent straight away - they usually receive little if any communication before info and items begin flowing in from the Minor Agents. This is, in some way, for the best - because arresting the Major Agent early will certainly guarantee that the plot will fall apart rapidly, sending all other participants into hiding in a cascade. Turning a Major Agent is one of the best outcomes you can have. It prevents the primary crime from taking place without causing all other Participants to scurry off into hiding. Also, due to their high point values, the bonus from turning Major Agents can be very high indeed. Major Agents are also usually the end-point for all items being passed between participants, and if all else fails, can usually be collected from the Major Agent. However this is usually not optimal - you'll want to confiscate the item before it reaches the Major Agent. One reason is because if all items reach the Major Agent, he may actually perform the primary crime and cost you a ton of points. Another reason is that by the time items reach the Major Agent, the Minor Agents who acquired them may already be in hiding - thus, confiscating the item would cause the plan to fall apart, rather than causing the Minor Agent to simply re-acquire the item. Therefore it's always better to confiscate the item nearer to the point of origin. If the primary crime already has taken place, all is not lost. You might still have time to confiscate whatever item resulted from the crime (if any), and tracking messages going from the Major Agent may reveal the location of the Mastermind, whom the Major Agent may try to contact. However, this is just a saving measure against an abysmal score, since failure to prevent a primary crime will usually cost you dearly. Category:Role Archtypes